About my Journey

My name is Marla. I am originally from a small town in California called Watts. Many people know it as South Central, Los Angeles. This is the place were people struggled to get by. The crime rate was high and many people were willing to do anything to make some extra money to take care of their family. I lived there until age nine. My mother became ill and decided that she no longer wanted to live in California, she wanted to die in peace, (the story I was always told). My family packed up and moved across country to Colorado. There we lived in a town called Montbello, it was a small town located in Denver. This was another place full of people who were struggling. We lived there only a few months before my mother succumbed to Breast Cancer. She passed away in 1993. I was nine years old and had two siblings who were younger than me.

After my mom died, my family went through hell. My father was depressed and lost all discipline and self-control. He had a gambling addiction and used all of the family’s money to feed his addiction. I was left much of the time to fend for myself and my younger siblings. It was a very difficult and abusive lifestyle. When I turned 18, I was forced to move out of my home. I was homeless living in motels, eating at churches and hauling everything I owned around in black trash bags. I was not wasteful with money, I just had none. Over time I began to build myself up. I got a good job, then an apartment and a vehicle later on.

I am now the wife of a United States Army Soldier (For the past decade). I am a mother of three amazing young children. My biggest desire for my children is to not have to grow up worrying about financial security. I couldn’t imagine them having to live they way that I had to as a young adult. I will do everything in my power to teach them to make good, moral decisions. I am determined to teach them the importance of financial stability, security, and discipline.

I have written blogs for company’s and I have also written a book called “My Thoughts Abandoned”. I have dedicated much of my adult life to helping better communities within, and outside of the United States Army. I hope this blog will help you discover your worth and create a desire inside you to better yourself financially and maybe even emotionally and spiritually as well.